


Helmets

by axlaru



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 08:59:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5862829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axlaru/pseuds/axlaru





	1. Chapter 1

Rey kept the fighter pilot helmet hidden under her bunk. She wasn’t sure why she had even recovered it from Jakku, since she could have a new one now that she was with the Resistance. Well, sort of with the Resistance. She was residing with them for the moment, until she had enough supplies to take the Millennium Falcon to find Luke Skywalker. She put the helmet on, just one last time, she told herself that every day, though, and every day for a few minutes at least she sat in the barracks with the helmet on, just like she had on Jakku.  
“Hey, Rey? You want to go grab something to eat—what are you wearing?” Finn called, as he walked past the first row of bunks.  
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Rey snatched the helmet off of her head, and tucked it behind her back.  
“Every once in a while I wish I still had mine,” Finn said. “I guess that’s normal, considering we were expected to wear those helmets any time we weren’t eating or showering. Have you ever tried sleeping with a Stormtrooper helmet on?”  
“I imagine it would be quite difficult,” Rey said.  
“Hey, are you two coming to lunch?” Poe called from the hallway. “I hear someone brought some good nerf steaks from Coruscant.”  
“Yeah, we’ll be right there,” Finn said. “You can go ahead without us if you want. Only if you want, of course, I mean, I’m not forcing you to do anything.”  
Poe laughed, “I think I won’t miss out if I wait for my two new buddies.” He walked into the room, and saw Rey’s helmet, which she was now holding. “Wow, that one’s much older than mine, can I take a look?”  
“Sure,” Rey said. She handed the helmet to Poe, who carefully examined it.  
“Do you see this right here?” He pointed to a symbol that Rey hadn’t paid much attention to before, “That’s the mark of a squad leader. You’ve got something very special here.”  
“Hmm,” Rey shrugged. “I just found it when I was little and kept it because I liked it. Shall we go get that steak then?”  
“All right,” Poe said. He set the helmet down on Rey’s bunk, and held out a hand to help her stand up, which she ignored. Poe offered it to Finn instead, and Finn accepted.  
Finn loved holding people’s hands; he especially loved holding Rey’s or Poe’s. Growing up at Starkiller hadn’t afforded much physical contact. “Thanks man.”  
“No problem.”  
Together the three walked toward the mess hall, chatting about flying and helmets and weapons the whole way there.


	2. Chapter 2

“Do you think they’ll let me take some of this food with me?” Rey said, around a mouthful of nerf steak. She was halfway through her second steak. When she had first arrived at the resistance base she had carefully rationed every meal; it had taken her about a week to adjust to not having to scavenge every day for only a tiny bit of food. 

“I’m sure you can get some steak to take with you,” Poe said. “This stuff’s pretty good, but you have got to have a home cooked meal at my dad’s place sometime. He makes the best desserts.” 

“Oh I love dessert,” Finn said. He was sitting across the table from Rey and was working on his second steak as well. “We didn’t get any. Just the bland nutritional paste every day.” 

“Well, both of you can come home with me, when things settle down,” Poe said. “I’m sure dad would love it.” 

“Thanks, man,” Finn said before taking another bite of food. 

“I don’t know,” Rey said. “It could take years to find Luke Skywalker. I better not make any plans.” 

Poe smiled, “Or it could only take a week. Either way, you’re invited.” 

“All right, then I guess.” 

The three of them finished their meals and a few minutes later they were heading out to the port to check up on the Millennium Falcon when BB-8 came rolling down the hallway, beeping and chittering away, with R2-D2 rolling next to the small orange and white droid, also chattering excitedly. C-3PO followed, trying desperately to keep pace, and to keep up with the conversation. Occasionally the gold droid would get in a few words, but the other two seemed to mostly ignore him. Since he was paying attention to Artoo and BB-8, he didn’t watch were he was going, and ran right into Finn. “Oh gracious me, I’m sorry Master Finn. I really should pay more attention to where I am walking. Oh hello, Master Poe, Mistress Rey.” 

“Hey Threepio,” Poe said. “How’s the arm holding?” 

“I have become more accustomed to its functionality; however I do not think I will ever become accustomed to the red coloring.” 

“It’s definitely unique,” Finn said. “I never saw a more colorful protocol droid when I was with the order. Everyone there was all one color. Usually gray.” 

“Oh, I wish you had seen me in my golden splendor, Master Finn. You know, the Ewoks on Endor once mistook me for one of their deities, I do not think they would recognize me anymore.” 

“Chrrrp,” Artoo called from a ways down the hall. He beeped urgently. 

“Please excuse me, Master Poe, Master Finn, Mistress Rey. Artoo has reminded me that we are going to be late to a meeting with Princess Leia. I really must be going,” Threepio said, and he ambled down the hallway to catch up with his companions. 

When Threepio was out of earshot, Poe said, “Hmm, I don’t remember BB-8 saying anything about a meeting with the general. I wonder what came up.” 

“Maybe we should go check it out?” Rey suggested. 

“Couldn’t hurt,” Poe agreed. He turned and walked in the direction the droids had gone. Rey and Finn followed, though Finn wasn’t completely sure why. He just didn’t want to be left behind, now that he had real friends, he didn’t want to lose them.


	3. Chapter 3

They all reached the meeting room a minute after the droids’ arrival, but when they tried to open the door, it was locked. “Don’t they usually leave this unlocked?”

“Yeah, Finn. Unless they’re talking about an extremely important and classified mission,” Poe said. He reached out to tap the door buzzer. “They might let us in anyway. We are pretty important to the Resistance.” 

Before Poe hit the buzzer, Finn reached out and took his hand to stop the pilot. “But wouldn’t they have called for us, if they really wanted us here? I know when there were meetings with the First Order and someone tried to inturr—“ 

“This isn’t the First Order,” Poe said. “Remember, I brought you right into the command center before?” 

“Oh yeah,” Finn smiled. “I’m still adjusting, you know.” 

Poe nodded, “now can I have my hand back please?” 

“What? Oh sorry,” Finn let go, he hadn’t realized he was still holding Poe’s hand, and was embarrassed. 

“He really does love that hand holding thing,” Rey said. “It was startling at first, but I think I’m getting used to it.” 

Poe laughed, “Great.” 

The intercom beeped then, and Threepio’s voice said, “Yes? Who is there?” 

“Hey, Threepio, can you let us in?” Poe replied. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, Master Poe. This is a private meeting between Princess Leia and some pilots—“ 

“What pilots? Some of my pilots?” 

“Oh, well, yes, Master Poe. Really, I must get back the meeting, after all, I am required to keep an audio record, and I can’t do that if I’m over here speaking with you.” 

“Threepio, who is it?” General Solo’s voice was faint through the intercom. 

“It’s Master Poe Dameron, Princess,” Threepio said. 

“And Finn and Rey,” Poe said. 

“Let them in, Threepio, they can hear this,” the general said. 

“Yes, of course, Princess. Come on in,” Threepio said, as he unlocked the door for the trio. 

“General,” Poe nodded to the older woman. He looked around, and saw that Jessika Pava was there, along with one of the pilots he couldn’t remember the name of. He nodded to them as well. 

Rey and Finn followed Poe, and also nodded to everyone. Once everyone was settled back in, they retreated to the back of the room and listened. Pava and the other pilot were being sent to a place called Naboo to look for some old records there. Something about an old senator from there having important information. Rey hadn’t heard of the place before, and wasn’t completely interested until the general brought up a holo of the planet, and she saw how beautiful and green it was. She just stared for a moment, until Finn leaned over and said, “Hey, you okay?” 

“What? Oh yes, I’m fine,” Rey whispered. 

“Are you sure? You look like you’re about to cry or something, not that that would be a bad thing,” Finn said. “But there are a lot of important people here, and maybe it would be embarrassing. I would be embarrassed anyway.” 

“I want to go there,” Rey said, a little louder than she intended, so everyone in the room heard her. 

“You already have a mission,” Finn reminded her. “You have to find Luke Skywalker.” 

“I don’t mean right this minute, Finn. Just someday.” 

“When this is all done with, when you have returned the hero, we can all take a nice vacation on Naboo,” Finn said. 

“Actually, I was planning to send a larger ship with these two,” Leia nodded toward the pilots. “I haven’t decided who to send yet. Rey, if you would like, you can go. It should be a short mission, and knowing the Falcon, it won’t be ready until you get back anyway.” 

“Are you sure, General? There must be more experienced people who can go, I don’t want to take their spot.” 

“What do you think, Pava? It is your mission, so you can make the decision.” 

“How could I turn down the help of a Jedi?” Jessika said. “Sure, Rey, welcome to the team.” 

“Thanks,” Rey said. 

The meeting took another hour or so, but Rey was fascinated. Finn was less interested, but he saw how excited his friend was, and he was happy for her. He was also amazed to see how accepting the Resistance was, and the general even asked him for his input a couple of times. 

That evening Finn was sitting on his bunk, going through what few possessions he had when Rey came up to him. He looked up at her and smiled. “So, how excited are you for this mission? It sounds like it will be fun. And dangerous.” 

“I think it will be easy after facing Kylo Ren,” Rey said. She sat down next to her friend. “I need at least one other person with me on my ship. And we already know we work well together. Interested in coming?” 

Finn grinned and his eyes lit up, he had been dreading his new friends leaving, so getting the chance to go with her was the best news. “Yes. Definitely. I definitely want to go with you.” 

“Excellent, I’ll go tell the general.” She stood and walked toward the door. When Finn didn’t follow, she turned and said, “You coming?”


	4. Chapter 4

Rey was just as amazed by how green Naboo was as she had been when she saw Takodana for the first time. The holo hadn’t done the verdant planet justice. She didn’t say anything this time, but Finn knew what she was thinking. Jessika probably did as well, since somehow what Rey had said spread all over the base; Chewie was quite the gossip. Rey commed the other two ships, asking, “Where can we land?” 

“Look over there to the left,” Jessika responded. “That city is Theed. We can probably land just outside the city and walk in to find what we’re looking for.” 

Rey acknowledged the other woman, then cut the transmission. The two X-wings flew faster than Rey’s big freighter, but she managed to stay just behind them as they approached the planet. 

“I think I recognize that building,” Finn said as they flew over a teal domed building. After they moved in closer he said, “Yeah! I definitely know that building.” 

“Why though?” Rey asked. “You haven’t been here before?” 

“I don’t think so, why would I have been. This has Republic territory for decades, right?” 

Rey shrugged. She spotted the clearing where the X-wings were headed, and once they landed, she carefully set her ship down between them.

Once they were all out of their respective ships, and Rey had taken a moment to lean down and feel the soft grass like a small child, the group walked toward the city. After about twenty minutes they reached the outskirts of the city, and paused to figure out which way to go. 

“Rey, this feels familiar. Why?” Finn whispered. He thought for a moment while Jessika was planning a route to their destination, which Finn still wasn’t quite sure of, then remembered one of his very early training sessions. “We had to rescue someone from that building.” Finn pointed to the teal domed building, “Well, actually my group was just guarding while some more advanced troops were going in. It was a very early training after all—“ 

“Why would the First Order have rescue missions here?” Rey said. 

“Beats me,” Finn shrugged. “But we definitely had a simulation of this.” 

“It was the Emperor’s home world,” the second X-wing pilot, whose name was Snap Wexley, said. “After the battle of Endor, there was a lot of fighting over Naboo. Maybe some sentimental higher up in the First Order wanted to reclaim it.” 

“Huh. That must be it,” Finn said. 

“Okay, I have our route,” Jessika said. She displayed the map for everyone to see, the route highlighted in red. “We just have to go straight for a few blocks, past the royal palace, and turn left to go around this building here.” She pointed at a much smaller building, that was no less elegant than the palace. “Our target is inside this building here. The entrance through an old hanger on the back side of the building.”

“Is this the part where we find out why we’re here?” Wexley asked. 

“I thought Finn and I were the only ones who didn’t know,” Rey said. 

“Nope, only Pava knows the whole deal,” Wexley said. 

“We’re looking for some records about one of the old rulers here,” Jessika said. “Someone who may have worked with the Emperor, pre-clone wars actually.” 

“Why?” Finn asked. 

“The General said it was personal,” Jessika said. “Though she did say what we find could be very important in the fight against the First Order.” 

“If General Organa sent us, it must be important,” Wexley said. “Let’s get going.” 

The group walked casually down the streets, past several vendors, and open stores. They waved or smiled at the people they passed. A couple of times they stopped to chat. When they finally reached the hanger a little while later, Rey sensed something; something similar to the feeling she had followed to Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber.


	5. Chapter 5

Inside the hangar the group found one antique fighter, parked in one dark corner and covered in a dusty cloth. The rest of the hanger looked relatively spotless; there were half a dozen modern freighters, and a few personally owned fighters. A grease-covered mechanic looked up from her work at one of the smaller ships; she waved at the new comers, then got back to her work. No one else in the hanger bothered to look up from their work; they were used to all kinds of people coming and going. 

“There it is,” Jessika said, pointing to a closed door on the other side of the hanger. “That should lead to a tunnel that will take us to the data storage computer that we need.” The dark haired woman headed straight for the door, Wexley followed close behind. Rey hesitated, Finn noticed, and stopped a few paces ahead of her. 

“What’s up, Rey?” Finn asked, somewhat concerned, as Rey had never seemed particularly cautious, at least not when they knew exactly what had to be done. 

Rey’s eyebrows drew together in a look of contemplation. “There’s something--- The Force, I mean, I sense something in the Force.” 

“Something bad?” Finn subconsciously placed his hand on his blaster. 

“I don’t know,” Rey admitted. “I’ve been feeling it since we got to this hanger; it feels a bit like the pull the lightsaber had. Not as strong though.” 

“Maybe you should check it out,” Finn said. “I’ll catch up with Pava and Wexley, and let them know what you’re doing.” He looked toward the door, and saw that Jessika and Wexley had stopped to wait, so he ran over to them. He explained the situation, and started to follow them through the door, but Jessika stopped him. 

“We need to stay in pairs,” the pilot insisted. “Snap and I can take care of this ourselves. You stay with your girlfriend.” 

“What? Girlfriend? Huh?” Finn seemed flustered by that word unexpectedly coming up. He was still getting used to real friendship, so he hadn’t put much thought into what type of relationship he had with Rey. Or Poe. Maybe there was something beyond friendship with both of them, after all Finn had been through a lot with both. 

“Woa, buddy, I didn’t mean to offend you or anything,” Jessika teased. “I see you, and Rey, and Poe holding hands and chatting all the time. Plus neither of them left your side for very long while you were still recovering, I just assumed.” 

“Oh,” Finn shrugged. “Well, we should probably get to work now.” 

“Yeah. It shouldn’t take us much more than a half hour, so we’ll meet you out here then.” 

“Great.” Finn walked back toward Rey, who had made her way to the dust covered ship. When he glanced back, the two pilots had already made their way through the door and out of sight. 

Rey was leaning over to look under the fabric at the ship. “This is amazing. It’s still in such great condition, but it had to be at least fifty standard years old. I wonder why they kept it.” 

Finn leaned down to look as well, but regretted it when he felt a twinge in his still-healing back. He stood back up and said, “Maybe it belonged to someone important. I’ve heard of museums keeping important peoples’ stuff to display.” 

“But then wouldn’t this be in a museum?” Rey said, as she straightened up as well. “Can you help me get the fabric off? I want to get a better look; this is definitely what was giving me that feeling.” 

“Sure.” Together they pulled off the fabric, and a cloud of dust flew into the air, settling in both of their hair, and back down on the ship. “I’ve never seen a yellow ship before.” 

“It is quite—bright—isn’t it?” Rey said. “Definitely different from the sand-worn ships on Jakku.” 

“Or the dull grey, black, and red of the First Order.” 

Rey climbed up onto the wing to get a look into the cockpit. She wiped the transparasteel, which had collected dust despite the fabric cover. It looked like a standard fighter, there weren’t even any marks on the dashboard, or anything to indicate a pilot had customized it. 

“Well? Anything interesting?” Finn asked. 

“Not really,” Rey admitted. “I’m going to see if I can open this.” She found a switch to manually release the transparasteel, which slid forward with some effort. “There is a helmet in here, on the floor. I wonder who left it.” 

“Maybe their name is written on it.” 

“Maybe.” Rey picked up the brown leather-covered helmet, and inspected the inside. “Nope. Nothing in there.”

“You should put it on,” Finn teased. “Maybe then it will reveal its secrets.” 

Rey laughed, “You never know, the Force is very strange.” She put the helmet on her head. 

“Anything?” 

“I think there’s still a hair stuck in here, gross.” She pulled off the helmet, and handed it down to Finn. “See, stuck in the lining there, there’s a blond hair.” 

“That is pretty gross, and you put that on your head.” 

“Hey, you suggested it,” Rey said. 

“Maybe I’m not the best person to take suggestions from,” Finn shrugged, grinning. 

Rey hopped down off the ship’s wing, and playfully punched Finn’s shoulder. “You’re suggestions about Starkiller saved my life.” 

“Yeah, but I nearly lost mine in the process,” Finn said, his mood suddenly lowering. “Plus we did lose many lives there.” 

“You can’t beat yourself up over that,” Rey said. “Come on, I’m not getting that Force sense anymore, so let’s go see if we can help Pava.” 

“Okay,” Finn agreed. “Are you going to put the helmet back?” 

“No, I think I’ll start a collection.”


	6. Chapter 6

Finn and Rey caught up to Jessika and Wexley quickly, since the latter two had stopped to look in a room just past the doorway to the hanger. 

Jessika heard their footsteps and looked up from the computer terminal she was studying. “Find anything fascinating under that dusty old tarp?” 

“No, just this helmet,” Rey held it up for Jessika to see. 

“Oh,” Jessika shrugged. “We haven’t found much either. I’m starting to think this whole mission is a wild avian chase. Snap, did you do something to annoy the General?” 

“No more than usual,” Wexley replied. He was bent over attempting to fix some wiring in another computer console. There was a crackle of electricity, and a holo projected over the console. “Got it.” 

“What is it?” Finn asked. He walked closer to the projection to study it. “It looks like the—“ 

“Death star,” Jessika said. “But with a partial ring around it. I think I’ve seen these before.” 

“Here, I think this is a recording, not just an image,” Wexley said. He fiddled with the controls, and got the holo to play. “Look at that! Only have a dozen fighters taking that on.” 

“That’s right, I recognize it now. Those were trade federation ships,” Jessika said. “They had an embargo on the planet. I remember reading about it briefly in some archive somewhere. A couple of Jedi were sent to negotiate, but never showed up. Or got here too late. The archive wasn’t very clear on that. It also said that some little kid ended up blowing up one of the trade federation ships.” 

As Jessika spoke, the holo showed the few ships going up against the larger ship, and while most were held off, one fighter made it inside, and apparently set off a chain reaction inside before escaping. 

“I think that’s the fighter in the hanger,” Rey said. “Why else would it still be here?” 

“Could be,” Jessika said. Wexley nodded half-heartedly. 

“Is this what the general wanted?” Finn asked. “If you already knew about this from the archives, it couldn’t be, right? Maybe we need to look around more.” 

“I think you’re right Finn. Let’s scope out a few more rooms. See if we can find anything else,” Wexley said. “It’ll go quicker if we pair up again. We’ll meet back at the hanger at sundown?” 

Everyone nodded, and they all stepped out of that room and headed further down the hallway. Jessika and Wexley checked the next room down, while Rey and Finn continued on further. 

A moment later Rey halted. “Finn, I sense something again.” 

“What? Like the ship again?” Finn asked. “If we find another helmet, you’re leaving this one behind.” 

“No. This is—colder—“ Rey shivered. “More like when Han was—“ 

“We don’t have to go this way if you don’t want to,” Finn said. He saw the hair on her arms standing, and was sure his own was too. 

“No, I want to check it out.” 

“Fine. Okay. Yeah, let’s check it out,” Finn said. He followed as Rey led him around a corner to what appeared to be a giant pit guarded by a series of shields that kept cycling on and off. “Nothing weird about that.” 

Rey kept walking, and managed to make her way through the shielding unscathed. She sensed darkness, and anguish. She looked down into the pit, to see if there was anything at the bottom. It was deeper than she had expected; the bottom was invisible. It was almost a letdown, but she knew that something had been there. 

“Wouldn’t want to fall down there,” Finn said, when he finally caught up to Rey. 

“No, I think not.” Rey backed away from the pit, and paced around it. “I think someone died here. Someone powerful.” 

“How can you know that, Rey? Is that how the Force works?” Finn followed her around. 

“I guess?” Rey stopped again. “Wait. I feel something else. Just as powerful, but not cold like the other. Someone else died here too. He was—hopeful—though.” 

“Okay now you’re definitely making that part up. How could anyone be hopeful while dying, let alone leave traces of that hope around decades later?” 

Rey shrugged. “I just know it.” 

Finn stepped closer to his friend, and was shocked to find that the air felt slightly warmer than the rest of the room. “Wha—how?” He stepped back again, and definitely felt cooler. “I think I feel it too—“ 

Rey turned, and grinned “Really?” 

“A sort of warmth I guess,” Finn said. 

“Are you sure that’s not because you’re standing so close to me?” Rey teased. 

“I don’t know, that could be it.” 

Rey stepped away from Finn, and asked, “Well, do you still feel it?” 

Finn nodded. Both stared at each other for a moment. “What does this mean?” 

“I don’t know,” Rey said. “Maybe you’re also a—“ 

“Jedi? That doesn’t seem right. I’m just a Stormtrooper.” 

“And I’m just a scavenger. And Luke Skywalker was just a farm boy.” 

Finn shook his head, not believing what he felt. Though it did explain some things, like how he had excelled in all of his training courses, and how he had reacted to the slaughter of the villagers on Jakku much more strongly than anyone else. “Is it time to head back?” 

“I think so,” Rey said. She was just as surprised by what they had discovered about Finn, but she saw that he was much more concerned about it. She was excited; they could train together. They shared more than just a lack of family. 

“Please don’t say anything about this to Jessika or Snap,” Finn said. 

“All right.”


End file.
